It was a busy weekend for Premier League sides in the transfer market. The Raheem Sterling “transfer saga” has nearly come to its conclusion and Liverpool fans will be delighted to see the back of the player who, alongside his agent, acted very unprofessionally and disrespectfully towards the club and its manager. Sterling has sparked rage amongst supporters for how childish he has acted regarding the whole transfer request. By phoning in sick, Sterling has become subject to mockery on a mass scale on social media and the young winger has undoubtedly damaged his reputation hugely. When he first broke into the Liverpool side he was renowned for his hard graft and ability to outmuscle defenders despite his small stature. He carried all the characteristics to be a fan favourite at Liverpool, and he was. That was before he was poisoned by his agent, who has been misadvising Sterling throughout the last few years. He has filled sterling’s head full of nonsensical ideas which have ultimately created an illusion in Sterling’s mind that he will become a better player by moving away from Liverpool.

Sterling will move to Manchester City and will earn more money there, but that does not mean that his progression will be more significant. His image as a money grabbing kid has been firmly established and now the world has proof. Manchester City have bought their way to the top and even ex-players like James Milner call Liverpool Football Club a step up from playing with City. Globally Liverpool are bigger and more importantly, historically Liverpool are bigger. Liverpool fans will be hoping that Sterling rots on the bench like many other young English talents have before him. (Sinclair, Rodwell) In fairness, receiving £49mil for a player who has shown little more than raw potential is an excellent piece of business from a Liverpool perspective. Manchester City are taking the risk, and making Sterling the most expensive English player in history is madness. The massive fees for English players are insane and if Sterling was Spanish would he even be worth £25mil?

A big worry for Liverpool fans is that Sterling’s attitude may rub off on other young players at the club. Jerome Sinclair today came out on twitter and spoke out about his contract talks stalling. Surely the club need to stop players from publicly displaying their dissatisfaction with offers that the club are making to existing players.

Sinclair tweeted: “Sometimes things just aren’t meant to be! Exciting times though! New chapter pending, Can’t wait to see where this year takes me.”

A top 4 challenge looks ominously more difficult for the Reds after this weekend’s transfer dealings. One can’t help but look to other top 4 challengers, Manchester United and get slightly worried. Schweinsteiger(£14.4mil), Schneiderlin (£24mil), and Darmian (£12.7mil) look like excellent signings for the Manchester club. If United bring in another top quality striker alongside Depay (£25mil) then Liverpool fans, I’m sure will be looking wearily at their neighbours.

Despite Liverpool’s early dealings in the transfer market, the club are still lacking options up front and with Manchester United being rumoured to have taken an interest in Benteke, Liverpool fans will be hoping for a finalisation as soon as possible on any deal regarding a striker.

Liverpool’s transfers so far have been very positive and the prospect of Firmino, Coutinho and Sturridge up front is a mouth-watering prospect. Obviously, with Sturridge’s constant battle for fitness Liverpool need more cover up top. Origi and Ings won’t provide adequate cover and another top quality addition is needed. Although the majority of Liverpool fans would rather someone other than Benteke, I’m sure most would just be happy to get the striker issue resolved as soon as possible. We’re only 2 weeks into the transfer window and I’m sure there will be plenty more activity to come. Links with Reus are a bit farfetched and have become a regular occurrence over the past few windows and Benteke is obviously a more realistic option. Whether or not he will suit Liverpool FC is another matter completely.
If a top quality goal scorer isn’t signed then it may be another season of frustration at Anfield.